Massage Benefits: 9 Healthy Reasons To Make An Appointment Today

Last week, a new study found that massage really does work to ease those sore muscles after a tough workout. Just 10 minutes can reduce inflammation, which can help your body recover.

However, the health benefits of touch extend beyond simply soothing aches and pains. Of course, the stressed-out have been proponents of the anxiety-busting procedure for decades. But a growing body of research suggests that a rubdown is even better for you than you think. Click through the slideshow below for some surprising health benefits of massage.

Manage Anxiety And Depression

For the same reasons that a massage is relaxing, it can also soothe anxiety and depression. Massage reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol, resulting in lifted spirits and often lower blood pressure. It can also boost the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, which are involved in depression.

Ease Pain

Eight out of 10 Americans will experience debilitating back pain, according to Time.com, but a massage can help. According to a 2011 study, massage helped people in pain feel and function better compared to people who didn’t receive any massage treatment.

“We found the benefits of massage are about as strong as those reported for other effective treatments: medications, acupuncture, exercise and yoga,” Dan Cherkin, Ph.D., lead author of the study, said in a press release.

Massage has also been linked to decreased stiffness and pain, as well as better range of motion in people with osteoarthritis.

Improve Sleep

If you’ve ever dozed off on a massage table, you don’t need to be convinced that a massage can promote healthy sleep. A number of studies have examined this link, and chalk it up to massage’s affect on delta waves, the kind of brain waves connected to deep sleep, according to Health magazine.

Improve Skin and Hair Health

A little prodding in the right places can even have beauty benefits. “Massage increases blood flow, which plumps up slack skin, encourages lymphatic drainage (the shuttling of toxins out and away from cells so that more nutrients can travel in) and adds vitality to a dull complexion and lackluster hair,” Kimara Ahnert, a New York City skin-care studio owner told Women’s Health.And you don’t even have to make an appointment — simply rubbing your face and scalp for a few minutes can make a big difference.